


Idols don't need to be smart

by rollingday_s



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Friendship, Gen, very slight Sakumoto (Sho/Jun)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rollingday_s/pseuds/rollingday_s
Summary: If there was one thing he had learned in the past few months, it was that ‘I’m an idol, I will never need to know maths in my life!’ is not an acceptable excuse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Arashi don't belong to me etc, etc. Previously posted on LJ. Inspired by the prompt ‘study’ from my prompt table [here](http://rollingdayscomm.livejournal.com/7540.html).

If there was one thing he had learned in the past few months, it was that ‘I’m an idol, I will never need to know maths in my life!’ is not an acceptable excuse. Not when your _senpai_ who is so strictly focused on education has decided to tutor you without you or anyone else asking. And especially when that _senpai_ ’s name is Sakurai Sho, on top of everything.

    Jun stared at his maths’ homework with irritation. If only he had a calculator, everything would be so much easier, he thought eyeing Sho, who was sitting in front of him, reading. He didn’t even have the time to get his calculator out of his bag, that his _senpai_ had just snatched it from his hands with what he could have sworn was a smug grin – even though Aiba told him he was imagining it, but what did Aiba know? He and his stupid straight As in every scientific subject! – and had sat in front of him in the greenroom with a manga in his hands.

    No, not some random manga, mind you. _Jun’s manga._ The one he had been waiting to get his hands on for a week now. Sho was carelessly flipping the pages, reading at full speed, snickering and making noises as he went on. It was getting on Jun’s nerves so much. He _had_ to be doing that on purpose. No matter that Nino had told him that Sho liked to read ‘Inuyasha’ too, so he was probably just reading it because he wanted to, and not out of spite. Jun gritted his teeth. What did Nino know anyway? He and his perfectly acceptable grades in every subject that let him play with his damn Game Boy all day long instead of enduring the worst kind of tortures from the worst _senpai_ -slash-tutor-from-hell.

    “Are you done yet, Jun-kun?”

    Jun lifted his head. Sho still had his nose buried in the manga while he was talking to him. He didn’t even have the decency to look at him as he was struggling with those stupid, good for nothing numbers.

    Jun almost growled. “I’m nowhere near done, _Sakurai-kun_.” He let all the sarcasm he could muster roll on his tongue while saying that last word.

    Sho seemed to notice, because he lowered his – no, _Jun’s_ – manga to look at him with a perfectly raised eyebrow. “Feeling a bit sarcastic today, don’t we?” he said, with what he was _sure_ was a mocking tone, and never mind how Ohno will surely tell him that ‘Sho-kun sounded normal to me’ later because what does he know? He and his stupid high school diploma and his right not to care about maths anymore in his life.

    Sho sighed at Jun’s angry expression. “You know, you’re a pretty smart guy, I’m sure you could get everything done in no time if you actually focused,” he lectured.

    Jun rolled his eyes. If there was something he hated more than maths, it was Sho’s lectures. He was always telling him that studying is important, education will open every door, and blah blah blah. God, who cared about that!

    He felt four pairs of eyes looking at him, and he realised he must have said that last sentence out loud.

    He saw Sho’s brow furrow dangerously, and he braced himself. Everyone else in the room exchanged worried looks. Sakurai Sho was no cute puppy when he got angry. He and Jun would be constantly fighting for the title of ‘most irritable member of Arashi’ – if not of the whole agency.

    Surprisingly, though, a whole minute passed with no remarks from him. His expression slowly changed back to normal, and a smile even appeared on his lips. He stared Jun down with indifference and cold eyes.

    “You’re right, Matsumoto-kun.” The use of the last name didn’t go by unnoticed by Jun. “Why should you care? Why should anyone care?” His tone was calm. He laughed. “Why would _I_ care, really? I have my own studies to get to, after all.” He got up and handed him the manga, which Jun took with trembling hands and wide eyes. “You’re an idol, right? Idols don’t need to be smart! Feel free to drop out of high school tomorrow,” he concluded, giving him thumbs up.

    Jun stared at Sho speechlessly as the guy reached for his cigarettes and a lighter in his bag. “Ohno-kun,” he addressed the guy who lying on the couch, reading a magazine. “Care for a smoke?” he asked, showing him his packet.

    Ohno shrugged and got up, following Sho out. He turned around for a second before closing the door, giving Jun a sympathetic look.

    Jun stared at the manga in his hands. There were a lot of thoughts going on in his mind right now. This was what he wanted right? No more maths, no more high school. He could finally, _finally_ drop out like he had wanted to do for the whole year, with no one pestering him about it. If he really wanted to, he could just get his diploma later in life. It was just pointless that he had to juggle between school and work like that.

    Sho’s words echoed in his head. _‘Idols don’t need to be smart!’_ He felt a bit irritated at that. He clenched his fists. He wasn’t stupid. He just didn’t think he need a piece of paper to prove it.

    “Jun-kun…” Aiba approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

    Jun pushed his hand away rudely. “I’m great!” he spat out. He saw Aiba’s expression sadden a bit at his gesture. He felt a little bad about it, but he was too angry to care.

    He stood up and threw himself on the couch, as far away as possible from Nino and Aiba. He buried his face in his manga, and he didn’t look up when Sho and Ohno got back.

    This is what he wanted, right? Then why did he feel so bad about it?

 

After that, he and Sho didn’t talk to each other the whole day.

    Fortunately they didn’t have to interact that much during rehearsal. Jun kept on ignoring Sho, and the other did the same. He felt so irritated that he yelled at everyone else, especially at Aiba, until Nino barked that he was done with his attitude, and that he was going to slap him if he didn’t shut up. Only Ohno’s intervention could stop them from biting each other’s heads off.

    When the day ended, Jun got out of the room without saying goodbye, leaving the others to tend to a tearful Aiba and a cross Nino.

    The ride back home was slow and boring. As soon as he got home, he didn’t even greet anyone and just ran to his room to throw himself on the bed.

    _Idols don’t need to be smart!_

    He couldn’t get those six words out of his mind. His irritation grew ever more when he remembered the tone in which Sho had lectured him.

    “Idols don’t need to be smart, uh!?” he said loudly to his empty room. He got up and grabbed his bag from the floor. “I’ll show that damn tutor from hell!”

 

“What happened?” Nino asked.

    Sho was sitting on the couch of the greenroom with a notebook and a pen in his hand, and Nino, with Aiba and Ohno in tow, had just sat beside him. They were all looking at Jun sitting at the table with a surprised expression.

    “Hmm?” Sho said distractedly, closing the notebook. “He just came in with his maths exercises from yesterday all done, and demanded that I give him more homework.”

    Nino gasped. “What did you do to him?”

    Sho smirked. “I just poked at his pride a bit. He was bound to fall for it.”

    The three of them looked at Jun’s focused expression as his hand moved the pencil on the paper, then back at Sho’s evil grin.

    “And I thought Nino was diabolical…” Aiba murmured.

    Sho laughed heartily and got up to put the notebook on the table. Jun lifted his head.

    “Everything was correct, Jun-kun.” Sho smiled at him.

    Jun grinned. “Of course it was,” he said smugly, hiding the fact that he was actually relieved.

    “You’re a pretty smart guy, aren’t you?” Sho said. “Good job.”

    Jun lowered his gaze and blushed, barely managing to hide a shy smile on his lips. “Uhm, thanks, Sakurai-kun.”

    Sho nodded and sat down, picking up his newspaper. Jun lifted his head briefly. From his spot on the couch, Nino was smirking while looking at him.

    _‘Dang it!’_ Jun gritted his teeth. Nino had seen him, he was certain of it. He knew he was going to give him hell for that.

    And sure enough, Nino’s voice echoed in the greenroom shortly after. “You have a nice handwriting Jun,” he said in a skilfully hidden scornful tone while picking up his notebook. “And everything looks good here. You’re so talented and smart! Isn’t he, Sho-kun?”

    “Uh? Yeah, he is,” Sho said, before turning his attention back to the newspaper.

    Nino grinned victoriously, with a glint in his eyes that told him he’d only just started.

    _‘It’s fine,’_ Jun scoffed, _‘who cares.’_

    But as he saw Nino wink at him, he shuddered against himself. He would never admit it, but he probably would have given anything to just have more maths exercises instead of another five hours at work, where he was sure Nino would mock him to no end, and all for an innocent blush and a stupid smile.

    Okay.

    Maybe he did care.


End file.
